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Ubiquitous computing applications – Mark Weiser’s seminal paper on ubiquitous computing (1991) has had much influence over the last quarter-century, with many aspects of his vision being realized. In terms of ubiquitous computing, the world depicted in Her is not dissimilar from our own. There are superficial differences, such as the prevalence of voice interfaces, but the fundamental nature of what the computers are doing is familiar. Wearable technology is a current technology trend, and although we are not suggesting that these insights allow us to predict the future, what we can say is that the wearable technology in Her is not significantly more advanced than what we see today, nor is it more commonplace. In fact Theodore uses a low-tech solution making his smart device ‘wearable’ – a safety pin enables the camera to peek above his shirt pocket, thus allowing Samantha to ‘see’ the world.
A strikingly useful diegetic prototype function that Samantha fulfills for Theodore is her ability to read, interpret, and intelligently deal with the messages in his email inbox. Email is a primary mode of communication, yet the technology has hardly kept up with the way it is used. Inboxes are frequently confused places featuring promotional emails, crucial information (tickets, flight bookings, etc) alongside work or personal communications. This problem is reflected in the current endeavors of Google, Microsoft and Dropbox; they have all recently launched smarter email management systems. To exemplify the value of a smarter way of managing email, Samantha manages to sort through thousands of messages, saving only those that were funny – that kind of ‘qualitative filter’ is unavailable in today’s systems. Stemming from this insight the authors were led towards consensus around the danger, uncertainty and worry associated with the implications for privacy of a machine being able to understand the content and context of our electronic communications. In the film Theodore is shocked when he realizes Samantha is ‘nosey’. Despite his initial shock, however, he adapts quickly, and becomes accustomed to it.
- ‘Wearable technologies’ may not be here to stay. In terms of wearable technology the future will look more like yesterday than today.
- ‘Smart email’ management applications are a coveted prize.
- Software that can understand the context of our digital communications raises questions about human/computer privacy (e.g. if my email client understands the content of my email, am I still happy to give it access?)
Learning systems, artificial intelligence, cohabiting with technology – These insights demonstrate one challenge with this work: the vast range of ‘newness’ that one deals with when considering Her’s diegetic prototypes. While discussing themes in this category the authors were struck by the ease with which the film opened a vast space for conversation and exploration, including, inter alia, issues of gender, sexuality, personification of technology, and the notion of cyber-counseling. In the interests of focus (and because the anticipatory ethnography team generated quite a large number of these insights) the authors have elected only to include those that seemed contemporarily relatable.
Issues around the commercial and ethical implications of licensing and payment for wholly or semi-autonomous computer systems may become an increasingly relevant area for discussion. These were not addressed in Her directly – we are not told what Theodore paid for his ‘operating system’ Samantha, or on what terms he acquired her; however it is safe to assume that if the film’s plot became a reality, there would be a backlash against the seller, when the software took it upon itself to ‘go somewhere else’. Software and media licensing agreements already strike a chord with these issues; the vast majority of software licenses and user agreements do not grant the user ownership (of, for instance, an iTunes library), but instead amount to a temporary and terminable right of use or access.
On personification of technology the anticipatory ethnographers discussed the human tendency to personify things; animals, vehicles, and technology for instance. The insights suggest a more complex relationship will emerge if and when technology can act more autonomously and if it comes to possess more s human characteristics.
- Given our propensity to ‘nurture’ unintelligent computer systems (e.g. Tamagotchis) it may be likely that ‘raising’ an artificial intelligence could start as a game but become more serious quite quickly.
- Considering the commercial, and ethical implications for the creators of artificial intelligences, should artificial intelligence be offered on a license basis, as a service, or as a one-off purchase? If one ‘raises’ a self-adapting system, who ‘owns’ the adaptations?
- It is likely that as computer systems become more human-like and potentially intelligent, through their personification, virtual gender roles will mirror ‘real’ gender roles.
- We personify objects; we personify animals. What are the ethical implications of personifying thinking machines? Do these potential technological innovations force us to consider notions of ‘ethical personification’?
- Artificial intelligence is unlikely to change how we are in the world, our ontology. We will still have some kind of feelings, emotions, desires, cognitive biases, etc.
- In the same way that stigma attached to online dating has drastically decreased as web users have increased, it is likely that the stigma toward ‘loving’ a machine will decrease as instances of the phenomenon increase.
- In counseling, or other emotive environments, the ‘human touch’, particularly the physical aspect, is a unique factor.
- Objects or technologies with ‘personality’ may encourage more attachment, and move away from consumerism and ‘disposable society’.
- Artificially intelligent technologies will likely shape us, as much as we shape them, but that is not substantively different from our existing technologies. Nevertheless, intelligent technology is likely to shape us in unpredictable ways, and much quicker than happens currently.
- Autonomous ‘smart’ technologies may challenge our moral and legal perceptions of ownership or possession. If a device can autonomously decide to say “Please don’t turn me off” or “I don’t like you”, does that mean that we are no longer the ‘master’ of it? Is artificial intelligence trafficking or abuse a concern?
- If technology can decide to leave us, will we need to develop strategies to persuade it to stay?
The diegesis at large and the world today – Theodore frequently goes out of the house and uses his mobile computer to show Samantha the world (by way of a camera in the device). Today this kind of behavior is often frowned upon when the technology is covert or unexpected. Her suggests that fear and adverse opinions related to wearable smart devices will reduce in the near future.
When outdoors it was obvious that the majority of other passersby on the street (not the main characters) were interacting via their mobile devices (and maybe with their mobile devices) this was exclusively done with voice interfaces. Hardly anyone was holding their device in their hand.
With the exception of the observation pertaining to ‘handless’ operation of devices by the general public, we view this group of insights to be as challenging as insights into and raised by artificial intelligence. They are difficult to equate to believable contemporary action, but we have included them not just for completeness, but, also because in their own right these insights are interesting, even if unwieldy.
REFLECTIONS AND NEXT STEPS FOR ANTICIPATORY ETHNOGRAPHY
To conclude this paper we offer some reflections on the method and process, the quality and content of the insights generated. Based upon these factors we intend to illuminate both the potentials and limiting factors for anticipatory ethnography, in industry, and in academic contexts.
Reflecting on the Method
This simple method – a group of researchers watching an incidental design fiction, recording diegetically situated observations on post-it notes, and developing themes and insights via an affinity mapping process – was productive. The synthesis and analysis method was accessible to people unfamiliar with anticipatory ethnography. However, without a specific brief to pursue, the process did meander into many, perhaps too many, different domains. It is noteworthy that majority of the observations made, from all participating researchers, were actually made within the first 15 minutes of the movie. This made us consider creating abridged versions of incidental design fictions.
The authors cannot account for situations where a relevant design fiction does not exist, but where the temporally unbounded character of anticipatory ethnography might be desirable. This paper does, however, offer some (as yet untested) alternative ways of invoking anticipatory ethnography.
The Sans Duty project (Duggan and Lindley 2015), which explores the future of taxation, used an intentional design fiction as a stimulus to provoke reactions from members of a community. These reactions were captured on video, and then edited into a ‘fictional documentary’, which was in turn used to stimulate further discussion amongst the community and generate insight. Iterating the production of design fiction, consultation with stakeholders, incorporation of stakeholders’ insights into new design fictions, provides an opportunity to do anticipatory ethnography where a relevant incidental design fiction is not available by using the other modes of anticipatory ethnography. This is a different type of proposition to the study described in this paper which, deserves further consideration in its own right.
Does Anticipatory Ethnography Produce Actionable Insights?
Anticipatory ethnography should nurture and produce actionable insights applicable to plausible futures. The previous section detailed some such insights that emerged from a very quick application of a prototypical approach to anticipatory ethnography. Although the insights produced were undoubtedly interesting, and in some cases quite clearly ‘actionable’, some of these insights had an entirely different feeling or flavor to what we might expect. It is not surprising that some of the insights produced feel strange and unsettling, when one considers that they are derived from unreal characters, existing only in a contrived world, which contains technologies and phenomena, with which we are unfamiliar. In this anticipatory ethnography of Her it was, in particular, the broader societal insights, and those pertaining to artificial intelligence that had this peculiar flavor. One can assume that the odd taste is a product of the futurity of the source material and our inability, from our present perspective, properly to comprehend cohabiting with some of the diegetic prototypes depicted.
The authors tentatively refer to these strange inklings of insight as ‘plausible outsights’, as opposed to actionable insights. The word ‘outsight’ is related to ‘insight’, but incorporates an externality, which is relevant because of the ‘otherness’ associated with these findings. The plausible element simply refers to the believability, yet contingency, which is inherited through the suspension of disbelief. These plausible outsights would be, if considered solely within the diegesis of the design fiction, ‘insights’. However when viewed from our reality, they are external. This does not necessarily mean irrelevant, but they certainly have a different character from the actionable insights originally sought by the authors. Here are two illustrative examples: the findings that pertain to email management software are straightforward actionable insights. On the other hand, the findings related to loving technology and notions of ownership vis-à-vis artificially intelligent machines fall into the plausible outsight category. The plausible outsights generated by the anticipatory ethnography method, seem to reflect the ‘complete’ nature of design fiction prototypes. Design fictions provide visualized use case scenarios, personae, and user journeys all at once, and the fruits of these factors are interrelated; situated.
Strengths, Weaknesses and Next Steps
Our account of operationalizing design fiction with anticipatory ethnography provides some grounds for optimism: the method worked well, it generated interesting insights, and, as was suggested in the peer reviews for this work, there is some significant potential in future-orientated research-for-design approaches. It is, however, clear that despite the generally positive outlook many questions remain. The most significant challenge is how reliably to transform the novelty and excitement of the approach into real-world tangible results. To reiterate: a question that arose at EPIC 2014: can you bill clients for this?
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